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I spent a week biking 400+ miles in Maine recently, a convenient excuse to try a broad selection of local beer. From scribbled notes / quick memories:

3 Tides / Marshall Wharf Brewing (Belfast):

Cant Dog Imperial IPA: By far my favorite beer of the trip. IPAs aren’t even one of my favorite styles– I don’t like them too bitter, piney, or one-note (and I’m not a fan of the Cascade and Columbus hops used so frequently). But this 10% ABV beast was nearly perfect– the alcohol helped subdue the bitterness, there was a nice balance of citrusy hops (but not overly grapefruity– more orange/pineapple?), and a bit of malt sweetness. To compare to gold standards: I’d choose this over Pliny the Elder any day, and it’s getting near my favorites Maharajah and Pliny the Younger. Bravo! (A+)

Sexy Chaos (a Chaos Chaos Russian Imperial Stout, further aged on vanilla and toasted oak). 11% ABV but still balanced– a warming, robust, bourbon-like beer that I could sip in front of a winter fireplace for hours.) (A)

At the end of the trip I managed to catch up with an old friend from high school at this bar, which I’d heard about from so many people I know (Maine residents, former Amherst patrons of the Moan and Dove, …) An astounding selection, Including one of my all-time favorite beers from Belgium, which I thought you could only drink in one cafe there (De Garre):

A 4 lb local chicken (no turkey this year), squash, beets, brussels sprouts, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. Most of it grown / raised within about 500′ of where we were eating it .

Wild cranberries found by chance in the woods!

Brussels sprouts picked an hour before dinner (one of the last crops alive in the garden, covered with bits of ice and frost as we picked them):

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Backyard chickens provided the eggs:

A cold frame keeps greens growing past the end of the season (we also used greens from the supermarket):

And, for fun, here’s a list of everything that went into the dinner sorted by location:

Grown / Raised by one of us:

Butternut squash

Beets

Raspberries

Brussels sprouts

Eggs

Potatoes

Sage

Basil

Thyme

Rosemary

From within a few miles:

Chicken (raised by a neighbor)

Cranberries (foraged from the woods)

Maple syrup (my sister made her own from backyard trees, but sadly we weren’t using it)

It’s very informal– you can take live lobster away or have them cook one for you on the spot. Then you sit at picnic tables on a working dock, with lobsters boats coming and going, piles of traps, and the freshest, most flavorful lobster I’ve ever had.

The lobster roll is also very good, though the bread (a hot dog roll) and fries are nothing special, and there are places that do the “accessories” better. This place is really all about the quality and freshness of the lobster.

Depending on the time of year, you can also get soft shell lobster– lobsters that recently shedded a shell and are growing a new one. It’s a sweeter lobster, with a thinner, slightly translucent shell you can peel off by hand with a bit of effort, though there can be less meat. It’s worth trying if you’ve never had it.

I was probably last here 15 years ago, and it’s not as ridiculously cheap as it used to be (it made it onto some tourism lists), but they still have a good thing going.

I stopped by The Great Lost Bear, which sells tasting sizes of the 40+ mostly-local beers they have on tap, and tried 8 Maine beers I’d never had or even heard of. And at $1-$2/taste I didn’t feel bad taking a few sips and abandoning two I didn’t like at all.

Allagash Black: Black but not bitter like the black IPAs I’m so tired of. The sweet smell of oatmeal, and a taste of roasted grains (not just oats), balanced without any one dominant flavor. Bravo!

Also good:

Atlantic Bar Harbor Real Ale: a dark but not strong beer, with a taste that reminded me of black tea, and very little aftertaste. Good, though I also used it as a palate cleanser between other beers.

Sheepscot Boothbay Bitter (cask conditioned): a slightly lemony and funky flavor, minimal carbonation and served closer to room temperature, and a bit watery in texture… but while those may not sound like complimentary adjectives, I liked the overall effect (though others didn’t).

Less exciting:

Belfast Lobster Red Ale: this has nothing to do with lobster other than the color (at least, I hope). A solid but unmemorable red ale.

Allagash Thing #1: a light, crisp ale with a powerful dose of cloves and probably other spices. Too heavy on the spices for my taste.

Rising Tide Atlantis Black IPA: Quite bitter, malty, and I liked it even less than the 21st Amendment Back in Black IPA. It looks like I just don’t like the black IPA style.

Allagash Big Little: a light-colored beer with a smell like a wheat beer but a strange taste- a hint of sweet fruit and mint? I didn’t like it at all.

I’d hoped to also make it to the highly recommended Novare Res beer cafe or take the Allagash Brewery Tour (since I like their White, Curieux, Tripel, and now Black), but didn’t have the time or fluid capacity. Next time.